The Great High School Protest
by Goth Albino Angel
Summary: I know, title sucks, but full summary inside. Anyway, Selena Santiago is sick of Demi Monroe, the cheerleaders and the jocks getting all the special privileges. So, she and her friends decide to do something about it. Written for English report.


**This was originally a report that I did for English class (nineteen pages, longest one in the class... probably my entire grade) so I decided that since I used Demi and Selena as the main characters that it counted as fanfiction. There' no hooking up in this version, but in the T/M version, there will be hookups. Anyway, enjoy this one while I'm perfecting other stories that should be coming asap as well as *shhh* a surprise for my friend Brian. You all might know him as The Grinning Psychopath, but I have a surprise brewing for him. He'll be really happy to see it. Anyway, continue on with the story. I didn't change a thing.**

**In case anyone's wondering, no I don't own Another Cinderella Story or Sonny With a Chance, but this report/story was mine first and I can sue you if it pops up somewhere else without my permission.**

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**The Great High School Protest**

I walked hurriedly through the halls to my locker, spinning the combination and removing the books I needed. Turning, I clicked the lock back into place and shut the locker, heading for my class. I was a few yards away when the bell rang and Mr. Stevens glared down at me.

"Hey Mr. Stevens." I said, shifting nervously. "I was just headed to class."

"Of course you were, Ms. Santiago. So then, why are you not in class?"

"Well, I woke up late today and-."

"Excuse me, Mr. Stevens." We turned to see my worst enemy walking toward us. Demi Monroe strode gracefully toward the two of us and gave Mr. Stevens a smile.

"Ms. Monroe, what are you doing out of class?"

"I was just on my way to class, sir." Mr. Stevens raised an eyebrow and moved aside to let her pass before turning to me and giving me a pink detention slip.

"Detention!" I exclaimed. "Where is her detention?"

"Ms. Monroe has an important cheerleading competition today, Ms. Santiago. She cannot stay behind for a petty detention."

I glared up at him and grumbled to myself as I made my way to class. Sliding into my seat, I took out my notebook and began taking notes on Mrs. Everton's lecture.

"Pst, Selena!" I turned to see my best friend, Harper Stone, smiling at me. Using our special form of sign language, she asked, "Where were you?"

Moving my hand quickly, I replied, "Detention!"

"From who?" she asked.

I rolled my finger in front of my eyes to portray rolling them and replied, "Stevens."

"Miss Santiago and Miss Stone, detention to you both if you do not turn and pay attention."

I rolled my eyes to Harper and turned back around to face the front. As the day progressed, I found that I had gotten an A+ on my biology test and an A- on my Algebra test. At the end of the day as I was walking through the halls toward my locker, I heard Demi speaking to one of her friends.

"…to do was smile at him and wink and he gave me an A."

I turned to see that she had also gotten an A on her biology test and it made my blood boil. It sounded like she didn't even have to study for the A. I growled under my breath as I realized that, once again, she had gotten something without even trying while people like me, the drama club, and the science club had to work for what we needed to get through school. I stormed to my locker and shoved my books inside before grabbing my homework and slamming it shut.

As I stalked toward the doors, Harper and our friend, Mitchie Torres, joined me. "What's on your mind, Selena?" Harper inquired as we made our way out to my car.

"Other than the fact that Demi has, once again, gotten something for free whereas we had to work to get it?" I asked, unlocking the doors and climbing in.

"Yeah, other than that."

"Well, I got A's on my tests. But it's been a pretty normal day." I drove them both home and headed to the park to think. Sitting down on a bench, I watched the flowers wave in the breeze and sighed.

"If there was a way to make it so that Demi and her clones weren't the ones getting everything, then maybe everyone could be just a bit happier. Just because she is a cheerleader does not mean that she should have special privileges."

I stood and began walking, thinking hard on what I should do to stop this. We could start up a protest. Then everyone would be able to get in on it. There wouldn't have to be a leader because no one would be arguing for the same things, but… My eyes widened as the thought fully settled into my brain. Whipping out my phone, I speed-dialed Harper and Mitchie.

"Hello?" Harper answered.

"Yes?" Mitchie asked.

"Hey guys," I said excitedly. Can you make your way to my house? I've got to tell you this great idea I have."

"Kay, we'll be there soon." Harper chirped, disconnecting.

"Does this idea have something to do with Demi?" Mitchie asked.

"Maybe." I chirped happily.

"I'll see you in a minute." Mitchie sighed, also disconnecting the line.

I hurried the last few yards to my house and ran up to my room. Taking out a pen and my notepad, I began making some notes on the idea, turning it into a plan. A few moments after I got home, I heard the doorbell. Racing down the stairs, I flung the door open and all but dragged my best friends inside.

"Whoa, Selena, what's the rush?" Mitchie asked, planting her feet and sliding us to a stop.

I turned to them happily and practically squealed, "I know how we can make things a bit more equal in the school!"

"What?" Harper asked enthusiastically.

"How?" Mitchie demanded.

"We are going to start…" I paused for effect. "…a protest." I leaned back and waited for their reactions. Mitchie's mouth gaped open like a fish out of water while Harper's eyes grew round and she paled.

"You want us… to do WHAT?" Mitchie demanded.

"A protest is the perfect idea." I told them. "It would make it so that the school would have to pay attention to the fact that the football team and cheerleading squad are getting better conditions than the drama and science clubs,"

Mitchie giggled. "Not to mention the art department, huh Selena?"

I nodded. "See? We don't really need to be organized. All we need to do is get a large number of people to join us and start shouting for what they want. We can protest at school events and dances. All we need to do is get enough people to join us, get the attention of the principal and superintendent and then ask them if they could do something about it."

Mitchie turned to Harper. "I don't know if it's a good idea," she said slowly. "We could get into a lot of trouble."

"But that would work in our favor." Harper said slowly. "If we got into trouble for protesting, the school board would have to look into why we were going against the school in the first place. Then they could do something about it." I beamed at her, glad that she saw it my way.

"Alright Selena." Mitchie sighed. "But how are we even going to go about the protest without drawing any attention to ourselves?"

"Isn't the point of a protest to get attention?" Harper inquired.

"No, Mitchie's got a point." I said slowly. "We need a way to get people to join the protest without the cheerleaders or teachers finding out. We want to make sure it will work before we go out into the open."

"The Tech Club might help us with that." Harper mused. "They could print off flyers and we could give them to the drama, art and science clubs. Then, if the word is spread far enough, we can also add in anyone else who is unhappy with the school's system of favoritism."

I nodded and looked to Mitchie. "Come on Mitchie," I cooed. "It won't be too bad. It might take awhile, but remember the Civil War? We just have to keep it up until they yield."

"But Selena, that could take all year."

"And if it does?" I challenged. "It could take two years, but kids deserve better treatment than what they're getting. We have to at least try."

Mitchie rolled her eyes but smiled at me and said, "Fine, I'm in."

I grinned gleefully and we began forming a strategy. The next day, I made sure to wake up extra early so that I could get to school as the Tech Club was having it's morning meeting. Dressing in plain jeans and a purple T-shirt, I slipped into my Converse and grabbed my keys.

"Bye Mom!" I called up the stairs as I was heading out the door.

"Have a good day!" I heard back and smiled, revving the engine and cruising to school. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I saw Alyson Geller getting out of her car.

"Hey Aly!" I called.

She turned to me, laptop in hand. "Hey Selena, what's up?" she asked, flipping her light brown hair over her shoulder.

"I was wondering if I could attend the Tech meeting with you. I want to ask all of you for help."

"On what?" Alyson asked curiously.

"Could we talk about it inside?" I asked, noticing the cheerleading squad sauntering nearer.

"Yeah, sure."

We quickly made our way into the school and to Computer Room B where the rest of the club members were already gathered. "Hey Alyson," Justin Henrie, the club's president, called. "Bring a new member?"

I looked down with a blush. "Actually, I'm no good with computers." I said. "I was coming to ask a favor."

Justin raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"Well," I looked down at my sneakers for a moment and took a breath. "I was wondering if you could help me make some flyers for a protest that Mitchie, Harper and I are going to start. Anyone who wants to help can join us if they want, but we're just so sick of the cheerleaders and the football players getting better treatment than the drama, science, and art clubs. Will you guys help me?"

Justin thought about it for a moment and looked around at his friends. They whispered among themselves for a time before Alyson turned to me. "We'll help you Selena." I raised an eyebrow. "As long as we get recognition in the protest."

I nodded with a smile. "Ready?" They nodded eagerly and we got to work. Just before second period, I met up with Harper and Mitchie and grinned at them.

"What are you up to Selena?" they asked suspiciously.

"Just managed to get the Tech Club to help us with the protest. They told me they'd be happy to help and that they want to join in. All we need to do is take some of these flyers" –I reached into my bag and pulled out a large stack of papers– "and hand them out to our individual clubs, plus some members to other clubs and we're good to go."

They gave me twin smiles and we split up to distribute the flyers. At lunch later that day, I sat down next to Harper and Mitchie at our usual table and we began trading different things for lunch before eating. Just then, the cafeteria door opened and I looked up to see the cheerleaders walking in. Demi was talking animatedly with a group of her 'friends' and seemed to be really into the conversation.

Suddenly, one of her friends—I think her name was Tess Martin—looked over at a girl in the chess club and sniffed in disgust. "Who does your hair?" she asked snidely, glaring down at the girl. The entire cafeteria had gone quiet as everyone watched. "Do you get a five-year-old to do it for you?" the cheerleader continued mercilessly.

I saw tears beginning to form in the girl's eyes and felt anger boil in my throat. Standing I strode over and growled, "Leave her alone, Tess. She didn't do anything to you."

Tess turned her icy blue eyes on me and flipped her platinum blonde hair. "What do you want, Santiago?" she sneered. "This had nothing to do with you."

"It does if you're going to just call someone out without a reason." I retorted, crossing my arms.

Tess scoffed at me and rolled her eyes. "And here I thought Torres was the one in the drama club. Have you been taking lessons?"

"I don't need lessons to stand up to an airhead like you." I said scornfully. "Anyone can do it, I'm just the only one that decided to right now. Because no one needs this."

Tess scoffed once more and was about to say something else when Harper, Mitchie, Alyson and Justin came up behind me and took defensive stances. "Ooh, got a posse, Santiago?" Cindy Reila mocked.

"No, none of us are leading anything. We're just fighting for a common goal, to defend ourselves and others against the likes of you guys."

Just then, some boys from the football team stood and began making their way over, but guys from the baseball and basketball teams stood up and blocked their way. I turned to them in surprise.

"Selena's got a point," one baseball player, a boy named Riley, spoke up. "Everyone's sick of putting up with crap from the football team too. You guys mess with everybody when the other athletes do more than you do."

"Excuse me?" Dwayne Jackson, the captain of the football team, demanded, his fist curling. "We go out there and risk our bones being broken!"

"I go out there and risk a ball crushing my skull!" Riley countered, standing chest to chest with Dwayne. Well, no. I guess it would have to be chest to stomach since Dwayne was a little taller than Riley.

"And I go out and risk being stuck in a vertical dog-pile every time I play!" Bugsy Benny, captain of the basketball team growled, standing next to Riley.

Dwayne raised his fist ready to strike and I knew a fight would break out. "Hold it!" Everyone paused and looked at me. I blushed at all of the attention, but set my jaw and continued. "We don't want to fight. We just want to settle some things with them."

"Oh yeah?" Tess sneered at me. "Like what?"

Before I could say anything, Harper asked, "Do you know that if you always sneer your face will become permanently ugly? Oh wait, I guess it's too late."

Tess' sneer faded into a snarl and she lunged at Harper. I intersected them just in time, but Tess began pulling on my hair. I shouted in pain and kicked her in the stomach, pushing her off of me. As Tess fell against a table, Cindy moved forward to take her place. I sighed as I realized that this fight was unavoidable. Deflecting Cindy's attacks, I saw some teachers coming with detention written all over their faces. They broke up the fight between the boys first since Dwayne was being double-teamed by Riley and Bugsy, but once the boys were restrained, he moved over to where Demi was helping Tess drink down some water and Cindy was getting tired from me blocking her attacks.

"Throw a hit already!" Cindy screamed, stopping to catch her breath.

"I already said I didn't want to fight." I said calmly as Mr. Stevens and another teacher that I didn't know strode over.

"What is the meaning of this, Ms. Santiago?" Mr. Stevens demanded.

"She wants to steal Demi's position as head cheerleader!" Tess shouted from where she was leaning against a table.

"What?" I shouted. "I do not! I don't even LIKE cheerleading; why would I want Demi's position?"

"Ms. Santiago, I've heard enough. Detention for you."

I stared at him incredulously as he held the slip for me to take. I glared at it for a moment before turning my gaze up to Mr. Stevens. "No." I said, crossing my arms.

Mr. Stevens raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"I said no." I repeated slowly. "I'm not taking a detention for a fall that wasn't mine. You didn't even here my side of the story. You automatically believed her. That's not right and you know it. This school needs to start treating kids equally instead of letting the football team and cheerleading squads get all of the privileges. I'm not taking the detention."

I heard murmuring all around. "Wow," I heard Bugsy whisper to Mitchie. "Didn't know quiet little Selena had a pair. When did they grow?"

"I think she just got fed up with it."

I turned to look at them as Mr. Stevens began sputtering angrily. "Double detention, Ms. Santiago!" He yelled.

"Did you not listen?" I demanded. "I told you, I'm not serving detention. That detention is being issued unfairly and I won't stand for it."

The teacher beside Mr. Stevens stepped forward and glared at me. I took silent deep breaths as I glared back at her. We just stood there for many long moments, staring anger into each other's eyes until she finally dropped her gaze. "Principal's office, young lady."

I nodded. "Good, now I can bring this up with the principal too. Thank you." I hoisted my satchel onto my shoulder and strode out, hearing my friends, the Drama Club, Art Club, Science Club, Chess Club, the Tech Club, the basketball team, and the baseball team cheer for me. That lightened my shoulders a bit and I stood just a little taller as I continued to the office.

"Hello," I said politely to the main secretary. "I'd like to speak with the principal please."

She nodded and dialed a number on her phone. "Mr. Laritate? Yes, a student would like to speak with you."

She nodded a few times before hanging up and smiling at me. "Go ahead, miss." I smiled at her in thanks and walked into the principal's office.

"Hello Miss Santiago." Mr. Laritate said pleasantly. "What's brought you to my office?"

"I wanted to talk about the treatment of certain students sir." I said without preamble.

"Oh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what is wrong with it?"

"The cheerleaders and the football players get better treatment than the rest of the student body." I told him. "They get grades without trying, the teachers only listen to their side of the story and everyone turns a blind eye when they bully someone. It isn't fair to the rest of us."

Mr. Laritate nodded and took off his glasses. "Ms. Santiago, I know you are jealous of the cheerleaders, but-."

I held up a hand. "I am not jealous of them, Mr. Laritate." I said slowly to control my outrage. "I merely want the rest of the student body to get better treatment from the teachers because there isn't a reason the cheerleaders and football players should get more than a drama student or a wrestler.

"The fact that they are allowed to torture a young chess player just because they win a lot of games and competitions means nothing, because there are just as many baseball, basketball, wrestling, swimming and bowing trophies as there are football and cheerleading trophies. I don't think it is fair to my friends and the rest of the student body. Couldn't you do something about it?"

Mr. Laritate sighed. "I wish I could, Ms. Santiago, but I have no control over how my teachers treat their students short of screaming at them. There is nothing I can do."

I stared at him incredulously and nodded. "Fine." I stood and hoisted my satchel over my shoulder again.

"Ms. Santiago?" Mr. Laritate called. "What are you going to do?"

I looked at him over my shoulder as I turned the doorknob. "You'll see." With that, I strode out the door.

Storming to my locker, I opened it just as the signal bell to end lunch rang. I hurriedly took out my books and made my way to my next class, Art and Design III. This was my favorite class because I loved to draw and paint. As my art teacher, Mrs. Falcone, showed us a very easy way of shading that didn't take up too much paint, I thought more on the protest.

As I was leaving the class, I heard someone call my name. Turning, I saw the entire swim team walking toward me and begin second-guessing myself on whether to run or stay. I decided to stay and moved to the side so that I wasn't in anyone's way.

They came up and the main swimmer, Gabe Lucrati, held out his hand to me. "Hey," he said in a deep voice. "I'm Gabe."

"Lucrati?" I asked to make sure I had his name right.

"With the swimmer's body." He replied with a soft chuckled. "I was wondering about your idea for a protest and the team and I wanted to know if we could join in?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm not the leader, I just came up with the idea. You can protest on whatever you want as long as it's against the treatment of the students. Just do me a favor and don't protest the cafeteria lunches."

They all laughed, but Gabe assured me that we had a deal. "Anyone can join." I told them as we parted for our different classes. Sitting through the rest of the school day wasn't so bad after that. Driving to my house with Harper and Mitchie, we talked about the kids and groups that had approached us.

"The music department teacher, Ms. Rhodes, told me that we could use her room for meetings and things so that we didn't get kicked off school property." Mitchie said excitedly. I grinned at this; Ms. Rhodes was always so nice to everyone.

"Good, because we need to have a meeting tomorrow so that we can make sure everyone is protesting at the football game on Saturday."

They nodded in agreement. The football game was a big one for the season; the town's news crew would be there to film it for the sports section of the news. "If we can make it known to the rest of the town that the school isn't treating everyone fairly, we can make things better." Harper theorized.

I gave her a sidelong smile as I kept my eyes on the road. "The school won't know what hit them." I murmured.

The next morning, I spoke with Ms. Rhodes and she agreed that she should be the one to give an announcement to the secretary to read for the morning. So I made a list of all of the clubs that had thus far joined the protest and she took it to the secretary while I hurried to class. Taking my seat, I sent a thumbs-up to Mitchie and Harper, which they returned with small smiles. Just then, the announcements came on and we all turned to listen intently to what the secretary was saying.

"…would like to wish the football team good luck on their next game, which is Saturday. Good luck, guys. And Now, a special announcement from Ms. Rhodes." There was faint rustling before Ms. Rhodes cleared her throat. "Would the drama, science, Technology, art, chess, Scrabble, GSA, and Foreign Affairs clubs please report to my room? As well as the swim, the baseball, the wrestling, the field hockey, track, cross country and basketball teams? Thank you."

The secretary came on once more to wish us all a good morning before signing off. There was a great rustle as many students stood to go to the music room and Mr. Travis stared at the remaining students incredulously. There were only three left when I left the room and I waved goodbye to them. As I watched, the halls filled with students heading toward the large music room.

Upon arrival, Ms. Rhodes let us in and locked the door behind us. "Alright, to begin, Selena?"

I slowly stood and addressed everyone. "Thanks for joining the protest guys. We're really happy that you support the cause and we're hoping the more people join and protest, the more the school will pay attention to us. Now, does anyone have anything to say?"

Gabe stood and said, "Yeah, do we have to protest at every school event or just the football team and cheerleading competitions?"

"If there is an event someone wants to protest at like a bake sale or such, then that's fine. The only sports events that Harper, Mitchie and I had in mind were the football and cheerleading ones. Anyone have any suggestions for any other sports events?"

No one stood so I nodded and handed the floor back over to Gabe. "Alright, so we're protesting at the football game on Saturday, right?" he asked. Mitchie, Harper and I nodded and he grinned "Sweet."

"You can use my room to make the posters and such needed for the campaign." Ms. Rhodes added.

I smiled up at her in thanks and said, "If there is nothing else, we should all get back to our classes."

Everyone nodded in agreement and we hurried back to class, sliding into our seats. I took out my pen and notepad and began making a checklist. I checked the things that had gotten done and looked over the things that needed to be done. We needed to make posters and signs for the cause, protest at the football game, and convince the teachers and staff that the entire student body should be held in a bit of higher regard.

I chewed my pen for a moment before nodding and beginning to take notes on Mr. Travis' lecture. For the next few days, everything was a blur. Even though we didn't officially have a leader, everyone looked to me for help when they weren't entirely sure about something and I gladly pointed them down the right path. At last it was Saturday and we all gathered together near the stands on the football field.

I checked to make sure everyone was there and asked, "Everyone ready?"

They all nodded and I fidgeted nervously. I set my jaw and gathered my courage together so that my friends and I could go out. Hearing a cheer, we heard the band give a signal; a trumpet blare. I glanced at the others and they nodded, pushing forward as one body to march out onto the football field. The crowd turned to us as we began shouting at the teachers and raising our signs high.

Mr. Stevens and Principal Laritate rushed over and tried to quiet us down. "Please, Ms. Santiago, Stop this riffraff." Mr. Stevens pleaded, casting anxious glances at the parents that were eyeing our group curiously.

"No." I shouted. "We want a bit more equality in this school for ALL students, not just the cheering and football playing ones."

"Ms. Santiago, there must be a better way…"

"Obviously not," I countered heatedly.

With that, we shouted louder and now everyone was turning toward us. A man in a suit strode over and eyed us with interest. "What is this, Laritate?" he asked.

"M-Mr. Greever!" Mr. Laritate said in surprise. "I didn't now you would be coming to the game sir."

"It's a big game at the school I watch over." Mr. Greever said airily. "Why wouldn't I come see it?"

"Well, uh-."

"Not the point, sir. What is this? Is this a protest?"

"N-no sir."

"Well, it doesn't look like much else. What is going on young lady?"

"The students in school are tired of the teachers treating the football players and the cheerleaders better than the rest of the student body. We want equality between the students. Not so much that it's communistic, but a bit more so that they get more than the rest of us."

Mr. Greever eyed me for a moment and asked, "What is your name, young lady?"

"Selena Santiago, sir."

Mr. Greever nodded, turning to Mr. Laritate and giving him a stern glare. "We will have to have a faculty meeting about the treatment of students, Laritate."

Mr. Laritate seemed to deflate as he mumbled, "Yes sir."

They gave the rest of us one more look before moving off as we continued shouting. By the end of the football game, my arms were tired and my throat hurt, but I was confident that things were going to gradually get better. The others agreed as well and everyone went home to get some sleep.

Over the next few weeks, none of the teachers seemed to notice anything different, but we continued protesting and shouting out that we wanted more equality. At last, a teachers' meeting was called one afternoon after school and I smiled, knowing that this had to have something to do with the protest. As I was walking to my locker the next day, Demi Monroe and Mr. Laritate walked up to me.

"Ms. Santiago," Mr. Laritate said with a sigh. "I have spoken with the cheerleaders, the football players and all of the teachers. We have come to the conclusion that you were right and we are taking things into consideration. Meet me after school today so that we can go over plans."

"I'll be there to help." Demi said softly, avoiding my eyes.

I grinned at them happily and said, "All we need to do is take one step at a time."

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**So, how was it? Good/ Bad? Flame-worthy (I hope not seeing as I got an A- on the report)? Tell me in a review and I'll get back to you.**


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